Domestic National Guard Members Are Left Out of Expanded GI Bill

Washington — More than 75,000 members of the U.S. National Guard will not be eligible for benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill unless Congress passes corrective legislation, the independent military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported today.

Guard members called to active duty since September 11, 2001, in Iraq and Afghanistan do qualify for the benefits. But Guard members called to active duty within the United States do not qualify, the newspaper reported.

Members of the National Guard with domestic assignments include those who responded to Hurricane Katrina and those who have been deployed to the United States-Mexico border.

Sen. Jim Webb, a Democrat of Virginia, plans to push for legislation that would expand last year’s GI Bill to include those Guard members as well, the newspaper reported.

The GI Bill provides full scholarships for qualifying veterans to attend public, in-state colleges. —Austin Wright